Navara wins Czech Championship with 8.5/9 points

5/11/2010 – After eight rounds top Czech GM David Navara still had a clean, 100% score and a performance rating in the 32 hundreds.This did not seem realistic and was recalculated using a proposal by computer scientist Ken Thompson. In the final round David generously drew a game and thus obtained a proper Elo performance: 2963. But the debate continues: how should we evaluate 100% or 0% results?

Sofia R12: Vishy wins, retains World Championship title

5/11/2010 – Viswanathan Anand, playing black in the final game, avoided a decision by rapid and blitz tiebreak. In a balanced Queen's Gambit Declined, the World Champion took a shot at weakening his Bulgarian challenger's king. Veselin Topalov panicked, as in a flash his chances were dashed and the Bulgarian could wrap up his defence. A fantastic final game by Anand who retains his crown.

Sofia World Championship: Giri on game twelve

5/11/2010 – "Before the game I tried to guess the opening," says our commentator GM Anish Giri, "and believe it or not, I actually managed to predict it!" Anand played the solid or trustworthy Queen's Gambit Declined, employed a relatively unknown idea, equalized and profited from a suicidal pawn exchange by his opponent. "Great and flawless play by Anand," says Anish in his instructive analysis.

Sofia World Championship: Giri on game eleven

5/10/2010 – It started out as a "boring" draw, but turned into YADEG – yet another dramatically exciting game. In his last white game in regular time controls Anand searched for a decisive advantage, and then on move 49 took a very brave decision – one that could have easily backfired, as our commentator, Dutch Champion GM Anish Giri thinks. More instructive analysis.

Nalchik GP: Kosintseva wins hands down

5/10/2010 – One round before the end of the event GM Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia was leading by a point and a half; in the end she won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix by exactly that margin – and a 2735 performance. The prize was € 6,500 and, if we interpret the pictures correctly, a dashing bridegroom from the Caucasus Mountains. Final illustrated report.

Lovely Anand portrait in the Indian Express

5/10/2010 – "If Indian chess, once a faceless form struggling to establish for itself an identity, is now a full-bodied force of nature, powered by young minds for whom all the world's a stage, it is because of the inspiration inherited from a path-breaker..." This description of a one-man revolution by Siddhartha Mishra in the E-Paper version of the Indian Express is a must-read portrait of Vishy Anand.

Sofia World Championship: Giri on game ten

5/9/2010 – Once again we bring you a treat: an extensive and didactic look at the last game in this match, one in which, as our analyst GM Anish Giri shows, World Champion Anand was in greater danger than most people realised. However, the Indian GM navigated safely around the treacherous endgame cape and finally it was Challenger Veselin Topalov who had to force the draw. Very instructive analysis.

Feodor Skripchenko, inventor of the 'New Slav', dies at 74

5/9/2010 – He is best known as the General Secretary of the Moldova Chess Federation, and as the father of IM/WGM Almira Skripchenko, but anyone who plays the a6 Slav should remember that it was Feodor Skripchenko who first introduced it into tournament practice. For a number of years this kind-hearted and enthusiastic man had been battling cancer. On Saturday he resigned the game.

Sofia R11: draw with a heart-stopping finish

5/9/2010 – The penultimate game of the match was an English Opening and, after considerable manoeuvering, Topalov equalized as Black. Anand was left with an unpleasant ending, but he held fast. It seemed the life had been sucked out of the ending when Anand ambitiously jettisoned a pawn to give his opponent a chance to err. In a real nail-biter Topalov defended and the game ended in a draw.

Navara with a 3241 performance at the Czech Championship

5/8/2010 – After seven rounds top Czech GM David Navara has scored 7.0 points, i.e. won every game. This extraordinary result is evaluated by most rating calculators as a 3241 performance. But there are problems with the arbitrary addition of a few hundred points in the case of a 100% score. After discussion with experts we have decided to implement a new algorithm in the next version of ChessBase.

FIDE Elections: the match for FIDE President heats up

5/8/2010 – After publishing an interview with FIDE’s Development CEO David Kaplan, we were contacted by Karpov’s campaign headquarters in New York. They responded to some of Kaplan’s statements and presented the case for change in FIDE. They are also preparing a fundraiser in New York with two former world champions and a near certain future one. Can you guess who?

Grandmaster Andor Lilienthal dies at 99

5/8/2010 – Just three days after his 99th birthday the world's oldest grandmaster has passed away. Andor Lilienthal was born in Moscow but spent most of his life in Hungary. In his long career he recorded wins against Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov, as well as players like Tartakower, Najdorf, Bronstein and Taimanov. In memoriam.

Bella combinazione

5/7/2010 – Italians enjoy the reputation of being best at defending - in football. In chess, however ... but judge for yourself. The sacrifice 17.Nd5 exd5 in this position ...
A) ... promises the typical long-term compensation for the piece, but not more;
B) ... leads to material advantage for White by force;
C) ... is good for Black;

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Sofia World Championship: Giri on game nine

5/7/2010 – Many of our readers were feeling frustrated. After annotating a number of games at the beginning of this match GM Anish Giri suddenly disappeared. Had we "fired" him? Replaced him with older, more experienced commentators (Anish is fifteen)? No, he was playing in the French League and on a brief holiday with his family. Now Anish is back and has sent us some truly remarkable commentary.

Sofia R10: Topalov presses, Anand holds

5/7/2010 – The Grünfeld was finally back after the disaster in game one – if anything to show Anand's house was in order. The opening went well and he equalized easily, but a very sharp Topalov found a way to lead him astray. A classic endgame with a bishop pair advantage followed. The Bulgarian made inroads and pushed, but a finesse by the Indian put a halt to them and secured the draw.

Nalchik GP: Kosintseva leads, Hou and Cramling follow

5/6/2010 – In round eight Tatiana Kosentseva was in trouble but managed to draw bottom seed Betul Yildiz. Since her main rivals lost their games it was enough to put her a point and a half ahead of the field. In round nine Tatiana drew again, while Hou Yifan and Pia Cramling won, so that the gap, two rounds before the end, is one point. Illustrated report.

FIDE Election: Yazici to Karpov – show me the facts

5/6/2010 – Recently Anatoly Karpov, candidate for the Presidency of FIDE, suggested that the incumbent President had yet to receive official support from any major chess federation. Wrong, says Ali Nihat Yazici, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had received support from his, the Turkish Chess Federation. Meanwhile Ilyumzhinov has moved into the international news spotlight with a story of alien abduction.

Sofia R9: Anand misses multiple wins, draw in 83

5/6/2010 – The longest game of the match. Anand switched to a Nimzo-Indian, forsaking the Catalan that had served him so well. His choice seemed to be vindicated as Topalov found himself in trouble in an ultra-complicated endgame with an imbalanced position. Anand made it to the winning line more than once, but faltered at the last moment. The Bulgarian's resilience paid off with a draw.

Kasparov and Carlsen – together again in Oslo

5/5/2010 – Former World Champion Garry Kasparov was in Norway to speak at the Oslo Freedom Forum – but also to meet up with his young colleague and sometime student Magnus Carlsen, currently number one in the world rankings. The two were interviewed by the national NRK TV. We have translated and transcribed some of the material and provide you with the video and screen grabs.

Sofia World Championship: another look at game eight

5/5/2010 – In this game Topalov and Anand again played the Slav Variation that Anand had used successfully in games three and five. This time he ended up with a miserable looking position, however Topalov allowed a bishops of opposite colour endgame. Anand got a completely drawn position and then blundered. In contrast to game seven both players played poorly. All very odd, thinks IM Malcolm Pein.

Sofia R8: Topalov wins, equalises the match

5/4/2010 – The World Champion had appeared to have recovered from his shock defeat in game one, and seemed to have it all under control. An oversight got him into trouble, and Topalov went hard to work trying to milk the position for all he could. Still, just as it seemed as if Anand had made it safely back to shore, a final blunder sealed his fate. The match is now drawn 4-4, with four games left. Express report.

Nalchik GP: Kosintseva leads with a 2800+ performance

5/4/2010 – After seven rounds of the Third Women's Chess Grand Prix in Nalchik, Russia, GM Tatiana Kosintseva leads with a remarkable 6.0/7 points, one more than her nearest rival, 16-year-old Hou Yifan from China. Top seed Koneru Humpy has scored a disappointing 50%. Grand Prix leader Zhao Xue is doing worse, with just 2.5/7. We bring you games, summaries, pictures and excerpts from interviews.

David Kaplan's revolution in chess

5/4/2010 – 200-300 million people play chess, one million in a professional environment – but the interest is not increasing. David Kaplan, CEO for Development in FIDE, wants to change that, amongst other things with $64 million as prizes for online chess. If he doesn't succeed in rebranding chess in the next five years, the Israeli business tycoon says, no one will for the next fifty. Interview.

Time to get started – with Playchess version 5

5/3/2010 – It’s here, and it’s better than ever: the new, free-for-download Playchess program brings all the special perks that only owners of the latest Fritz 12 previously enjoyed, as well as access to the numerous special options. Today we show you how to watch and play games. Download the Playchess software now and go through part two of our introductory instructions.